Robeisy Ramirez enjoyed a quick turnaround to defend his title and didn’t waste any time once he entered the ring.
The two-time Olympic Gold medalist retained his WBO featherweight title after a one-sided, fifth-round stoppage of Yokohama’s Satoshi Shimizu. Ramirez floored the first-time title challenger before an ensuing flurry forced the stoppage at 1:08 of round five in their ESPN+ aired co-feature Tuesday from Ariake Arena in Tokyo.
The all-southpaw battle saw Ramirez immediately close the gap versus the 5’11” Shimizu. Uppercuts managed to break through the tight guard of the first-time title challenger, who later drew cheers after landing a straight left. Ramirez began to target the body early and committed to his right hook.
Momentum remained with the visiting titlist through round two. Ramirez stood at close range and fired off right hooks downstairs and straight left hands up top. Shimizu was forced to play defense after taking a left on the chin, which Ramirez later followed with left uppercuts.
Shimizu enjoyed early success in round three with a straight left from long range. Ramirez quickly adjusted and went on the attack. The uppercut continued to split Shimizu’s guard, to which Ramirez followed with left hands before returning with the shot that produced his greatest success.
It would also produce the end of the fight.
On the undercard, Kanamu Sakama (8-0, 7KOs) remained perfect after an eighth-round stoppage of Tokyo’s Ryu Horikawa (3-2-2, 1KO) in their junior flyweight bout.
Headlining the show, Stephen Fulton (21-0, 8KOs) puts his WBC and WBO junior featherweight titles at stake versus former three-division champ and pound-for-pound entrant Naoya Inoue (24-0, 21KOs).
